This Blog

There are 100 million young people in the Middle East and North Africa. They are a force for change in a region at a crossroads. This blog is focused on ideas for tapping into this immense potential and meeting the aspirations for jobs, justice and dignity.

Decentralization in Tunisia means empowering local government. A new World Bank project aims to build the capacity of local government and make it accountable. Jaafar Friaa, Team Leader for the Program discusses the project's goals.

Walking past the Check-in counter in Casablanca’s Mohamed V International Airport, a digital sign claims X amount of solar energy used and X amount of energy savings occurred in powering a transit hub with the use of polycrystalline panel technology. As a tourist, this may come as a pleasant surprise if she has not yet had the opportunity to see other improvements, like Rabat’s tram system. As a citizen, this may be inspiring as the term “smart city” hints at better infrastructure and technology use. However, what qualifies a city as a “smart city” is more often a topic for discussion only among Maghreb countries and not implementation.

When I told friends and colleagues that my new job would be based in Cairo, almost everyone mentioned the awful congestion in the city, and how I would be wasting a tremendous amount of time being stuck in traffic. And how right they were: When it comes to traffic, Cairo is one of the most congested cities in the world. Of course, the city’s residents already know congestion is one of the city’s biggest problems. What they probably don’t know is exactly how much it’s costing them.

If you are up for a challenge, hop on a bus or flag a taxi in one of Morocco’s larger cities. If one thing is certain, relying on urban public transport in Morocco is a frustrating, time-consuming and sometimes risky experience. These were the conclusions drawn by civil society organizations in a recent World Bank-sponsored consultation held in the capital, Rabat.

The Middle East and North Africa region is 60 percent urbanized compared to the global average of 52 percent and is home to one of the world’s most rapidly expanding populations. By 2030, a 45 percent increase of MENA’s urban population will add another 106 million people to urban centres.

In early April 2012, the Jenin Joint Services Council for Solid Waste Management established a Facebook Page called “Flower Cup” from the Arabic Zahrat Al-Finjan, a flower commonly found around the sanitary landfill area in Jenin, West Bank. The goal of this Facebook Page was for the Jenin Council to reach out to the Northern West Bank community members to raise awareness about the Zahrat Al-Finjan sanitary landfill, in operation since 2007 and constructed with support from the World Bank and the European Union.

Home to one of the world’s most rapidly expanding populations, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is currently around 60% urbanized. Its urban population is expected to double or triple in the next 30 years. The region will experience a 65% increase of its urban population, corresponding to over 130 million additional urban inhabitants by 2030. Indeed, the region’s average annual urban growth rate in the past two decades is exceeded only by Sub-Saharan Africa, which is far less urbanized.